With the Tobacco and Vapes Bill having received Royal Assent, The Tobacco and Vapes Act is now law and gives the government a wide new range of powers to further regulate the vape industry.
The focus must now be on working hard to ensure that any policy changes which flow from this Act are fair, evidence-based and reflect the public health needs of smokers and vapers across the country.
The UKVIA is pleased that the government listened to our calls for vape licensing and industry consultation to be included in the new Act and we will continue to work closely with the relevant bodies on any new regulations.
We have a wealth of information now which shows the negative consequences from over-reaching regulatory control and we must do all in our power to ensure this does not happen.
There is a fine line between getting these changes right or creating a disaster that will send people back to smoking.
The Single Use Vapes Ban has seen vapers – who were former smokers – move back to cigarettes or to sourcing black market products and the upcoming Vaping Products Duty will almost certainly exacerbate this problem.
Watch this space for the results of our recent consumer survey on The Tobacco and Vapes Act which received close to 3,500 responses.
It examined attitudes to potential new regulations – such as flavour bans and retail display restrictions – and whether vapers thought the government had their best public interests at heart.